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International  Conciliation 

Sf^IAL   BULLETIN 


A  JRIEF    OUTLINE    OF    THE 

NATURE    AND    AIMS    OF 

PACIFISM 


BY 


ALFRED    H.   FRIED 


TRANSLATED  BY 

JOHN  MEZ 

APRIL,    1915 


American  Association  for  International  Conciliation 

Sub -station  84  (407  West   11 7th  Street) 

New  York  City 


^"/\\°\^oZ 


The  objections  raised  against  the  Peace  Movement 
are  mostly  based  upon  an  entirely  wrong  conception  of 
the  problem.  Generally  those  ideas  that  are  so  strongly 
combatted,  refuted  and  ridiculed  are  for  the  most  part 
not  involved  at  all. 

The  following  paragraphs  contain  a  brief  outline  of 
the  fundamental  ideas  of  Pacifism,  which  show  how 
unfounded  the  common  objections  are. 

It  is  not  intended  thereby  to  convert  every  adversary 
to  Pacifism,  but  to  crystallize  the  controversy  and  center 
it  about  the  real  issues. 


M250014 


CONTENTS 

I.     "Eternal  Peace" 5 

II.     International  Organization 6 

III.  Settlement  of  Disputes  Without  Force    ...  8 

IV.  "Disarmament" 9 

V.     "War"    under    the    Condition    of    International 

Organization 10 

VI.    What  is  "War"? 11 

VII.     The  Nation  and  International  Organization  .        .12 

VIII.     Human  Nature 13 

IX.     Extent  and  Effect  of  the  Pacifist  Movement        .  14 

X.     Peace  "At  Any  Price" 17 

XI.  The  Attitude  of  Pacifism  Toward  War  under  the 
Present  Condition  of  International  Disor- 
ganization         18 


Ca? 


JNIV,    O'F 


NATURE  AND  AIMS  OF  PACIFISM 


"ETERNAL    PEACE" 

One  must  discriminate  between  "No  War"  and  "Peace." 

The  condition  existing  at  present  under  normal  circum- 
stances between  nations  is  not  that  of  peace,  as  understood  by 
Pacifism,  but  merely  that  of  no  war.  Nor  is  it  the  object  of 
the  peace  movement  to  bring  about  that  peace  which  is  made 
after  a  war.  Such  peace  merely  terminates  war ;  it  does  not 
found  peace.  (An  analogy  as  an  illustration:  A  drunkard 
sober  between  drinks  is  not  an  abstainer.) 

Who  does  not  discriminate  between  "peace"  and  "no  war" 
does  not  uiWerstand  the  fundamental  principle  of  Pacifism ; 
he  reaches  conclusions  that  do  not  touch  the  problem. 

Only  the  so-called  state  of  "peace"  which  really  is  a  state 
of  "no  war"  can  be  prolonged  by  ever-increasing  armaments. 
(Therefore:  "Si  vis  pacem,  para  bellum.")  But  this  condi- 
tion cannot  be  maintained  permanently.  (Therefore:  "Eternal 
peace  is  but  a  dream.")  These  conclusions  are  right  in  them- 
selves, but  their  premises  are  wrong. 

Peace  as  understood  by  Pacifism  means  a  condition  of  or- 
ganized liv-ing  together  of  nations. 

The  disorganization  ("anarchy")  existing  to-day  in  the 
relations  betvveen  nations  is  gradually  being  replaced  by  In- 
ternational Organization. 

The  fundamental  problem  of  Pacifism,  therefore,  is  not  the 
alleged  desire  permanently  to  avoid  the  conflict  of  ivar  "without 
changing  the  present  disorganization  still  existing  betzveen 
nations,  nor  to  establish  "Eternal  Peace" — zvhich  tinder  pres- 
ent conditions  zvoidd  be  impossible  and  zchicli  in  reality  zvould 
not  mean  peace.     What  Pacifism  really  wants  is  to  do  azi'ay  .- 

^'  ~ 


with  that  condition  of  disorganisation  by  developing  inter- 
national organisation  from  which,  besides  other  advantages, 
automatically  will  result  the  possibility  of  settling  all  disputes 
betzveen  nations  zvithout  force. 

In  short,  Pacifism  aims  not  to  treat  the  symptoms,  but  to 
remove  the  causes. 


,-/ 


II 

INTERNATIONAL   ORGANIZATION 

(a)  Definition 

This  does  not  mean  World  State  nor  United  States,  nor 
World  Federation  of  nations;  does  not  mean  the  dissolution  of 
all  nations  into  one  League  of  Humanity;  does  not  mean  the 
abolition  of  national  autonomy  nor  submission  under  one  cen- 
tralized power. 

But  it  means  a  voluntary  co-operation  of  autonomous  nations 
for  their  common  interest,  a  greater  efficiency  for  obtaining 
their  means  of  subsistence  and  a  better  guarantee  for  their 
security  with  the  least  waste  of  energy,  on  account  of  this 
mutual  co-operation.  (A  substitution  of  the  ideal  of  might  by 
the  ideals  of  co-operation  and  mutual  obligations.) 

(b)  Hoiv  is  this  to  be  obtained? 

International  organization  cannot  be  capriciously  con- 
structed; its  growth  is  dependent  on  those  natural  laws  that 
determine  human  progress.  Mechanical  forces  have  built  and 
made  our  society.  They  lead  mankind  on  to  ever  higher  forms 
of  organization,  from  the  isolated  cave-dweller  to  modern 
world-empires  and  unions  of  nations,  and  finally  beyond  this 
toward  world  organization. 

The  process  of  international  organization  has  been  working 
for  a  long  time.  The  entire  lack  of  organization  in  the  rela- 
tions between  states  long  ago  ceased  to  exist.  And  more 
and  more  and  with  increasing  acceleration  nations  have  be- 
come organized  and  dependent  upon  each  other.     Economics 

6 


have  expanded  into  world-economics.  World  trade  has  cre- 
ated international  credit,  world  markets  and  an  international 
interdependence  and  has  brought  about  an  inseparable  world- 
community  of  interests.  The  nations  have  formed  countless 
world-unions,  and  an  efficient  and  extensive  international  ad- 
ministration is  in  operation.  The  number  of  international 
treaties  and  agreements  concerning  economic,  social,  hygienic, 
political,  ethical,  legal  and  scientific  activities  is  constantly  in- 
creasing. Public  world  congresses  for  the  management  of  the 
common  matters  of  civilization  have  become  permanent  insti- 
tutions. All  of  these  things  are  both  the  symptom  and  the 
evidence  of  the  constant  increase  of  international  organization 
that  will  gradually  replace  the  present  disorganization.* 

This  process  constitutes  the  problem  of  Pacifism. 

Pacifism  need  not  itself  create  international  organization. 
It  merely  has  to  recognize  it  and  to  call  attention  to  its  growth. 
It  merely  wants  to  lay  bare  this  natural  trend  of  development 
in  order  that  men  may  direct  their  actions  in  accordance  with  it 
and  thus  accelerate  the  process  of  organization.  (Catalytic 
reaction.) 

(c)   The  Effects 

The  transformation  of  international  life  will  result  in  a 
change  of  society.  In  such  degree  as  organization  supersedes 
disorganization,  crude  force  will  cease  to  play  a  role  in  inter- 
national relations.  (One  sees  that  not  War  is  to  be  eliminated, 
but  its  causes.) 

Conflicts  between  nations  will  not  disappear,  any  more  than 
they  have  ceased  to  exist  between  individuals.  But  their  char- 
acter will  be  changed.  The  less  they  are  caused  by  disorgan- 
ization and  the  more  they  emanate   from  organization,  the 


*For  further  details  see  A.  H.  Fried's  "Handbuch  der  Friedensbewe- 
gung,"  2nd  edition,  Vol.  i,  Chap.  3.  "Die  Organisation  des  Weltfriedens." 
"Das  internationale  Leben  der  Gegenwart."  (Teubner,  Leipzig,  Eng- 
lish translation  publ.  by  Holt,  New  York.)  "Annuaire  de  la  Vie  Inter- 
nationale" (Misch  &  Thron,  Brussels),  which  comprises  the  constitu- 
tion, history  and  activities  of  all  existing  international  unions.  (See 
also  Bridgman,  World  Organization,  published  by  The  World  Peace 
Foundation,  Boston,  Mass.) 


less  menacing  will  disputes  become  and  the  easier  will  it  be 
to  settle  them  by  the  application  of  reason. 


Ill 

SETTLEMENT   OF   DISPUTES   WITHOUT    FORCE^ 

K  This  does  not  mean  to,  replace  the  settlement  by  force 
through  settlement  by  law.  *  It  is  an  error  to  believe  that  under 
present  conditions  Pacifism  wants  to  settle  all  conflicts  between 
nations  by  arbitration  (as  most  of  these  conflicts  are  produced 
by  the  very  lack  of  organization  between  nationsW^/^  is  not  a 
question  of  doing  aivay  with  the  consequences  without  the 
causes  having  been  changed,  and  therefore  not  of  creating  in- 
stitutions of  lazv  for  the  settlement  of  disputes  between  nations, 
but  rather  to  change  the  character  of  these  disputes  sx)  qs  to 
make  possible  a  settlement  through  rational  nieansA'^  This 
transformation  will  be  effected  through  the  growth  of  organ- 
ization between  states. 
''V,  Arbitration  is,  moreover,  only  one  way  of  settling  disputes 
without  force;  not  the  only  one.<^vThe  most  preferable  way 
will  always  be  settlement  by  exchanging  advantages  and  by 
compromising,  particularly  during  the  present  period  of  transi- 
tion from  disorganization  to  organizatiorr.'^ '  The  more  these 
conflicts  assume  legal  character,  the  more  will  they  be  gov- 
erned and  decided  by  principles  of  law  so  that  the  settle- 
ment of  disputes  by  institutions  of  law  (arbitration,  judicial 
settlement,  committees  of  investigation)  will  mean  an  accelera- 
tion in  the  procedure  of  settlement. 

.\t'*It  is  necessary  to  realize  that  the  casues  of  war  have  a  twofold 
character.  Wars  may  result  from  a  real  case  of  dispute,  or  simply  from 
a  desire  for  conquest.  Disputes  always  have  some  legal  basis  and 
could  be  settled  by  principles  of  law  or  mutual  compromise.  Formerly, 
also  such  cases  were  settled  by  force,  but  to-day  practically  all  of  them 
are  settled  without  force.  Against  the  desire  for  conquest  there  is  no 
influence  of  law.  It  is  illegal  (anarchic)  in  its  nature.  It  may  be  pre- 
vented by  threat  or  repulsed  by  force.  But  the  application  of  force 
for  the  prevention  of  disorganized  force  is  nol  zcar  in  the  modern 
sense.     (See  Chapters  V  and  VI.) 

8 


IV 
"DISARMAMENT" 

The  mutual  competition  of  armaments  is  one  of  the  gravest 
consequences  of  the  disorganization  between  nations,  and  at 
the  same  time  its  most  visible  evidence. 

The  absence  of  security  by  mutual  guarantee  compels  every 
nation  to  seek  to  protect  itself  by  its  own  armaments,  and  this 
provokes  on  the  part  of  the  other  nations  counter-measures 
against  every  defensive  measure.  Thus  every  defensive  meas- 
ure of  one  nation  reacts  upon  others  and  creates  a  new  menace 
to  the  nation  which  has  increased  its  armaments.  This  leads  to 
the  ruinous  and  never-ending  competition  of  armaments,  which 
exhausts  the  people  of  every  nation. 

These  endless  armament  increases  can  achieve  neither  abso- 
lute security  nor  peace  as  understood  by  Pacifism.  They  only 
make  the  outbreak  of  war  more  difficult,  but  they  can  merely 
serve  to  prolong  that  condition  that  has  been  characterized  as 
"no  war."     (See  above,  Chapter  I.) 

Pacifism,  of  course,  does  not  think  of  accelerating  the 
elimination  of  the  present  international  disorganisation  through 
disarmament,  i.e.,  to  attempt  to  change  a  cause  by  removing 
its  consequences.  To  the  Pacifist  the  competition  of  arma- 
ments is  but  a  symptom  of  the  present  disorganisation,  which 
with  the  development  of  international  organization  will  gradu- 
ally disappear.  For  there  are  in  this  ve^  complex  problem 
various  grades  which  cannot  be  adequately  characterized  by 
the  word  "disarmament."  We  must  distinguish  betzveen  "Un- 
limited Competition  of  Armaments,"  "Limitation  of  Arma- 
ments," "Temporary  Stand-still  of  Armaments,"  with  con- 
tinually growing  intervals,  "Reduction  of  Armaments"  and 
"Total  Disarmament."  Pacifism  holds  both  extremes,  total 
disarmament  as  well  as  unlimited  competition  of  armaments, 
equally  senseless.  The  solution  lies  between  these  extremes. 
In  proportion  to  the  development  of  international  organization 
will  the  single  intermediary  solutions  be  effected.  The  prob- 
lem for  the  present  is,  in  order  to  check  at  least  partly  the 
intolerable  waste  of  energy  through  stipulated  regulations,  to 
equalise  armaments. 


\ 


"WAR"    UNDER    THE    CONDITION    OF    INTERNA- 
TIONAL  ORGANIZATION 

Total  disarmament  is  not  thought  of,  not  even  when  inter- 
national organization  will  be  established.  For  even  then  the 
necessity  of  applying  physical  force  would  not  be  done  away 
with  any  more  than  it  is  within  the  nation  of  to-day.  The 
possibility  must  be  assumed  that  within  international  organ- 
ization nations  will  still  have  to  resist  attacks  from  less  civil- 
ized countries  which  refuse  to  join  or  which  must  of  necessity 
be  kept  out  of  it.  (It  is  possible,  also,  that  nations  will  have 
to  defend  themselves  from  lawbreakers  within  the  community 
of  nations.?  The  employment  of  force  will,  however,  become 
extremely  rare,  but  should  it  nevertheless  prove  necessary,  it 
will  not  be  "war"  in  the  present  sense,  if  only  because  it  will 
not  be  a  supreme  effort  on  the  part  of  the  whole  organism,  as 
war  is  to-day  for  the  nation.  It  will  only  be  made  by  the 
organs  established  for  this  purpose,  without  strongly  affecting 
the  normal  life  of  the  nation,  just  as  to-day  some  police  action 
does  not  affect  the  life  of  civilized  nations.  The  security  of 
organized  nations  will  be  absolutely  effected  through  precisely 
that  organization.  But  the  application  of  force  will  be  funda- 
mentally different  from  "zvar"  of  to-day.  Force  will  serve 
taw,  and  not — as  in  ivar — substitute  for  it.  It  will  but  establish 
law,  without  violating  it,  and  therefore  leave  behind  no  hatred, 
nor  any  desire  for  revenge.  Application  of  force  will,  there- 
fore, never  be  a  matter  of  glory,  but  merely  a  simple  duty, 
and  thus  the  cult  of  force,  to  which  history  at  present  is  sub- 
servient will  totally  disappear.  It  will  no  longer  be  disorgan- 
ized force,  but  regulated  force.  And  regulated  force  is  law. 
The  burglar  who  kills  the  man  in  the  street  exercises  anarchic 
force;  the  policeman  who  kills  the  burglar  practices  regulated 
force.  The  actions  are  the  same  in  both  cases,  but  they  are 
different  in  nature. 

//  is  apparent,  therefore,  that  the  mirage  of  "eternal  peace" 
is  not  found  in  the  program  of  Pacifism. 

lo 


VI 
WHAT   IS    "WAR"? 

During  the  period  when  nations  were  isolated  units,  the 
business  of  poHtics  was  to  execute  the  will  of  the  nation  as 
against  the  outside.  It  was  carried  out  peacefully  so  long  as 
there  was  no  opposition ;  by  force  when  there  was,  which  was 
the  usual  thing  under  a  condition  of  total  disorganization  in 
the  relations  between  states.  War  was  a  permanent  institution 
destined  to  carry  out  the  nations'  needs,  and  was  really,  as 
Clausewitz  defined  it,  "the  continuation  of  politics,  only  by 
other  means."  In  the  present  time  of  increasing  and  almost 
accomplished  international  organization,  politics  have  become 
the  art  of  securing  the  various  interests  of  individual  nations 
in  such  a  way  as  not  to  interfere  with  the  common  interests  of 
all  other  nations.  War  is  no  longer  the  "continuation"  of  poli- 
tics, but  their  failure. 

War  has,  therefore,  to-day  ceased  to  be  an  institution;  it  is 
a  condition  which  may  occasionally  occur  owing  to  the  lack  of 
the  establishment  of  international  order,  and  owing  to  that 
particular  disorganization  that  still  allows  individual  nations 
to  obtain  real  or  supposed  advantages  over  other  nations.  The 
condition  of  war  is  the  outcome  of  anarchic  motives. 

The  application  of  force  in  itself  is  not  necessarily  charac- 
terized by  war.  In  the  latter  we  can  see  working  two  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  force — attack  and  defense — which  equally  cre- 
ate that  complexity  of  conditions  which  make  themselves  felt 
as  evil  (waste  of  life  and  wealth,  devastating  diseases,  inter- 
ruption of  traffic  and  intercourse,  of  law,  economics,  etc.). 
The  one  is  the  application  of  force  emanating  from  disorgan- 
ized conditions,  and  the  other  that  of  the  regulated  force  op- 
posed to  it  for  its  control.  Only  he  who  applies  the  first  kind 
of  force  is  responsible  for  these  evils,  only  he  literally  "makes" 
war.  Not  he  who  resists  it.  The  action  due  to  this  disorgan- 
ized condition — not  necessarily  always  the  assailant's — is  the 
primary  cause  of  war;  resistance  only  a  secondary  form,  its 
complement.  (See  Chapter  V,  concerning  disorganized  and 
regulated  force.) 

"Preventive"  Pacifism,  in  its  fight  against  war,  is,  of  course, 

II 


(     \ 


ranged  against  the  underlying  causes  of  war,  i.e.,  application 
of  force  arising  from  disorganized  conditions ;  not  against  the 
resistance  impelled  by  it,  which  is  but  its  consequence. 

But  as  a  rule  it  is  exactly  this  secondary  form  of  war  that 
those  ivho  oppose  Pacifism  have  in  mind,  because  they  think      \ 
that  war  may  also   be  necessary  or  even  moral.     But  what        \ 
appears  necessary  or  moral  in  this  case  is  not  zvar  itself,  but        j 
only  that  secondary  action,  the  resistance  against  it;  this  pro-        / 
tection  against  aggression  is,  therefore,  precisely  what  Pacifism      / 
seeks  to  achieve  through  the  more  rational  means  of  preven-  / 
tion.  ^...i-^ 


VII 

THE   NATION   AND   INTERNATIONAL 
ORGANIZATION 

The  misconceptions  as  to  the  nature  and  aims  of  Pacifism 
have  caused  the  reproach  of  an  anti-national  attitude,  espe- 
cially the  erroneous  assumption  as  if  it  were  a  question  of 
limiting  the  armaments  merely  of  one's  own  nation,  and  of 
the  so-called  "Peace  at  any  price,"  i.e.,  the  abandonment  of 
all  resistance  against  aggression,  of  opposition  to  armies  by 
principle.  Such  ideas  are  against  reason.  They  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  the  true  nature  and  aims  of  Pacifism.  Besides 
that,  for  many  people  with  strong  patriotic  feeling,  the  word, 
"international"  includes  a  significance  of  anti-national."  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  conception  "international,"  in  its  true 
meaning,  plays  absolutely  no  part  in  Pacifism.  It  only  appears 
to  do  so  because  we  are  accustomed  to  it  in  our  terminology, 
and  because  it  is  used  rather  on  account  of  its  conciseness  and 
adaptability.  The  Pacifist  ideal  is  not  concerned  with  the 
relations  between  nationalities,  but  between  nations,  i.e.,  with 
the  governments  and  the  people  (often  of  mixed  nationalities), 
for  which  a  term  like  "zwischenstaatlich,"  i.e.,  "as  between 
states"  or  "inter-governmental,"  would  be  more  expressive. 
The  union  between  states  that  is  in  question  should  serve,  first 
of  all,  to  secure  for  each  nation  advantages  which  it  could  not 
obtain  by  itself,  or  only  by  disproportionate  sacrifices.    "Inter- 

12 


nationalism,"  in  its  modern  sense,  is  therefore  not  an  anti- 
national,  but  a  very  national  conception;  its  true  meaning  is 
the  obtaining  the  highest  welfare  and  security  with  the  least 
waste  of  energy. 

The  main  reason  why  this  is  so  often  misunderstood  by  the 
opponents  of  Pacifism,  and,  indeed,  why  they  often  denounce 
these  patriotic  aims  as  being  unpatriotic,  is  that  they  still  look 
upon  each  nation  as  a  separate  unit,  incoherent,  self-contained 
and  utterly  independent  of  other  nations ;  therefore  they  con- 
sider the  peace  movement  as  a  force  working  excliisively  within 
their  own  respective  countries. 

The  peace  movement  is  working  in  all  countries,  and,  whether 
it  has  more  or  less  support  in  one  country  or  another,  it  is 
always  based  upon  the  co-operation  of  all  civilized  nations. 
In  asking  for  means  of  securing  world  peace,  the  creation  of 
international  order  and  the  abandonment  of  conquest,  it  does 
not  expect  any  one  single  nation  to  fulfill  these  demands  while 
the  others  remain  deaf  to  them;  the  solution  of  the  problem 
can  only  be  achieved  by  common  action.  Thus  understood, 
these  efforts  protect  every  nation  in  the  most  practical  and 
most  "patriotic"  sense. 


VIII 

HUMAN    NATURE 

Not  struggle  is  to  be  eUminated,  but  only  its  crudest  form, 
physical  struggle.  This  is  a  process  that  is  developing  almost 
automatically ;  the  whole  evolution  of  mankind  has  more  and 
more  narrowed  the  plane  of  physical  force  and  replaced  it  by 
spiritual  struggle.  To  contest  this  would  mean  to  contest  his- 
tory. Only  between  nations  physical  force  is  still  applied, 
and  even  there  not  without  certain  restrictions.  Psychic  force 
has  already  gained  a  prominent  place.  Even  the  present  com- 
petition of  armaments  may  sometimes  be  called  "a  war  of 
numbers,"  and,  therefore,  psychical  struggle.  As  a  rule,  the 
power  concentrated  in  the  armies  and  navies  is  not  exercised 
any  more,  but  merely  indicated,  as  zvith  a  hank  the  paper  money 

13 


merely  indicates  its  actual  capital  lying  in  its  safes.  Struggle 
is  not  eliminated  through  its  refining;  this  only  makes  it  more 
complex  and  more  manifold.  And  the  more  it  becomes  com- 
plex, the  less  effective  will  physical  force  be,  and  only  struggle 
is  the  father  of  all  things;  not — as  one  so  readily  confuses  it — 
war,  which  is  becoming  more  and  more  an  impediment  to 
progress. 

In  nature,  "struggle  for  existence"  is  never  carried  on  for 
the  extinction  of  its  own  species.  Among  all  living  beings  this 
tragic  destiny  may  only  be  observed  in  mankind. 

On  the  other  hand,  throughout  nature  the  lazv  of  "mutual 
assistance"  prevails  among  the  same  species.  The  struggle 
for  existence  has  a  justification  only  in  the  struggle  of  man 
against  nature  because  only  there  is  it  productive,  and  it  is 
exactly  this  struggle  that  drives  men  to  co-operation  and  to 
organization.  Thus  even  the  natural  "lazv  of  struggle"  justi- 
fies pacifism. 

It  is  not  necessary,  as  skeptics  hold,  for  men  to  become 
"angels"  before  war  can  be  eliminated  from  international  rela- 
tions. They  only  need  to  be  what  they  are  by  nature:  egoists; 
but  egoists  who  must  first  learn  to  realize  their  true  interests. 

From  this  results  the  invalidity  of  the  objection  that  war  is 
ineradicable  because  it  is  grounded  in  "human  nature."  But 
supposing  this  objection  were  justified:  Sexual  instinct  is  also 
grounded  in  human  nature.  Nevertheless  society  knozvs  hozv 
to  protect  itself  when  some  one  oversteps  the  harriers  it  has 
erected  against  this  powerftd  natural  instinct.  Nobody  zvould 
any  longer  excuse  sexual  criminals  by  pleading  "natural 
laws." 


IX 

EXTENT   AND   EFFECT  OF  THE   PACIFIST 
MOVEMENT 

The  extent  of  Pacifism  is  not  limited  to  the  societies  formed 
for  propagating  it  (peace  societies  and  similar  organizations). 

14 


These  are  but  the  msible  signs  of  a  condition  that  is  due  to, 
and  inseparably  connected  with,  the  character  of  modern  civ- 
ilization. Everyone  who  works  in  the  direction  of  civilization 
promotes  pacifism.  Almost  all  our  modern  institutions  are 
means  to  its  realization.  The  number  of  those  working  in  the 
direction  of  Pacifism  is  immeasurable.  It  is  by  no  means 
identical  with  the  number  of  the  members  of  peace  organiza- 
tions. There  we  find  united  only  the  conscious  and  leading 
Pacifists.  But  besides  that,  there  are  the  great  masses  of 
unconscious  Pacifists  who  work  without  willing  it,  simply 
through  the  pressure  of  things  directing  them.  Then  there 
are  those  who,  though  convinced,  are  too  easy-going  to  take 
a  leading  part.  The  opponents,  too,  are  co-workers,  for  their 
pressure  exacts  reaction. 

It  would  be  entirely  wrong  to  believe  that  the  Pacifist  or- 
ganizations had  been  founded  in  order  to  carry  the  peace 
idea  artificially  from  outside  into  our  present  time.  In  reality 
they  are  born  out  of  the  present  time  and  indicate  its  true 
tendency.  How  ridiculous,  therefore,  to  fight  the  peace  organ- 
izations !  As  if  one  should  destroy  the  thermometer  to  dimin- 
ish heat  or  cold ! 

Nor  do  the  Pacifist  organisations  fortn  one  distinct  unit. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  an  "International  League  of  peace" 
extending  all  over  the  world,  as  some  people  think.  The  vari- 
ous Pacifist  organizations  are  created  by  the  various  political 
tendencies  of  our  time  and  have  the  physiognomy  and  char- 
acter of  the  different  elements  that  compose  them. 

According  to  the  different  principles  upon  which  they  are 
formed  or  to  the  different  viewpoints  which  they  put  into  the 
foreground  (as  religious,  scientific,  social,  philosophical  views) 
they  are  striving  for  various  goals  by  different  methods,  or 
they  confine  themselves  to  certain  partial  aims.  The  only 
thing  they  have  in  common  is : 

(i)  the  starting  point,  which  is  the  opposition  against  the 
present  system  of  international  relations; 

(2)  the  direction  of  their  efforts,  which  is  to  alter  that 
system. 

From  this  it  follows  that  the  whole  of  Pacifism  can  never 
be  held  responsible  for  the  viewpoint,  activities  and  methods 

15  • 


of  each  of  the  single  organizations.  Pacifism  is  only  the 
highest  scientific  doctrine,  which  must  accord  with  the  actual 
state  of  politics. 

For  the  rest,  it  is  not  necessary  to  decide  which  organiza- 
tion is  the  best  or  the  most  consistent  and  most  effective,  each 
of  them  being  adapted  to  a  different  circle  and  therefore 
servifig  their  cause  in  their  ozvn  field,  and  not  in  that  of  an") 
other  organisation.  Just  as  one's  coat  must  be  cut  to  one's 
own  measure,  and  one  universal  measure  for  humanity  would 
be  impossible,  so  must  the  nature  of  the  Pacifist  organization 
adapt  itself  to  the  various  material  and  spiritual  needs  of  men. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  so  much  a  question  of  creating  the  one 
organization  that  applies  the  one  right  method  and  holds  to 
the  one  right  formal  aim,  but  rather  to  have  organizations 
adapted  for  all  measures  of  purpose  and  strength.  In  accord- 
ance to  the  moral:  the  final  aim  is  nothing;  the  movement  is 
everything. 

One  must  not  believe  that  any  peace  organization  will  some 
day  bring  about  universal  peace  by  applying  a  better  program 
or  a  better  method.  This  will  not  be  achieved  by  a  sudden 
acceptance  of  recommended  principles  of  any  branch  of  the 
general  movement ;  but  by  a  gradual  penetration  of  Pacifism 
into  the  national  mind  whereby  its  leading  men  often  uncon- 
sciously and  without  being  converted  will  begin  to  act  in 
accordance  to  Pacifism  after  others  have  worked  out  the  ideas 
of  Pacifism.  Universal  peace  will  come  about  through  an 
entire  change  of  ideas  and  of  estimation  of  advantages.  This 
general  change  of  ideas  will  be  effected  not  because  Pacifism 
has  put  forward  certain  claims,  but  solely  because  of  the  move- 
ment that  it  has  started,  the  thinking  that  it  has  awakened,  the 
discussion  for  and  against  its  claims  that  it  has  created.  Not 
the  uniformity  and  consistency  of  the  peace  programs,  nor  the 
number  of  subscribing  members  of  the  single  peace  societies 
will  effect  this  change,  but  the  strength,  the  power  and  the 
extent  of  the  whole  movement,  and  through  this  its  growing 
influence  and  acceleration. 


i6 


PEACE    "AT    ANY    PRICE" 

In  order  to  express  a  distinct  difference,  the  representatives 
of  the  peace  movement,  who  generally  had  been  called  "Peace 
Advocates,"  or  "Friends  of  Peace"  ("Friedens-freunde"), 
named  themselves  "Pacifists."  For  there  is  a  fundamental 
difference  between  being  a  "Friend  of  peace"  and  a  "Pacifist." 
Every  normal  man  will  look  upon  war  as  evil,  and  will  agree 
to  the  desirability  of  peace  and  therefore  be  a  "friend  of 
peace."  Even  the  most  ardent  militarist  will  feel  this  way. 
But  that  does  not  yet  make  one  a  "Pacifist" ;  first,  because  to 
the  mere  friend  of  peace  it  is  only  a  question  of  having  "no 
war,"  which  differs  essentially  from  the  Pacifist  conception  of 
peace,  as  has  been  shown  at  the  beginning  of  this  discussion. 
Moreover,  the  "friend  of  peace"  will  desire  a  condition  with- 
out war  only  so  long  as  an  actual  conflict  or  some  real  or  sup- 
posed interests  of  his  own  people  do  not  impel  him  to  think 
that  a  settlement  by  force  might  be  useful.  He  will  be  a 
"friend  of  peace"  as  long  as  no  actual  war  is  in  prospect,  and 
as  long  as  his  desires  seem  satisfied.  But  he  will  always  reckon 
with  war  as  a  necessary  and  valuable  medium.  The  Pacifist, 
to  whom  peace  means  not  merely  a  pause  in  the  employment 
of  force  between  two  wars,  but  the  substitution  of  international 
disorder  by  international  order  and  law,  does  not  content  him- 
self to  being  solely  a  "friend"  of  this  "peace,"  which  means  the 
pause  between  wars,  but  seeks  to  create  means  and  guarantes 
that  make  it  possible  to  avoid  application  of  force  precisely 
in  case  that  serious  conflict  should  arise.  The  Pacifist  does  not 
content  himself  to  love  peace  in  times  of  peace,  hut  aims  to 
secure  international  order  for  the  case  of  conflict. 

This  attitude  appears,  of  course,  most  conspicuously  during 
times  of  impending  conflict  when  public  opinion  is  stirred  to 
war.  Thus  the  Pacifists  have  borne  with  the  reproach  of  their 
opponents,  that  they  wish  "peace  at  any  price."  This  reproach 
embodies  a  stigma  of  lack  of  patriotism.  It  would  imply  that 
Pacifists  want  to  avoid  war  even  when  national  honor  and 
national  interests  are  endangered.  It  creates  the  impression 
that  Pacifists  are  guided  by  senseless  fanaticism,  just  as  the 

17 


fanatics  of  law  in  earlier  times  formulated  the  proposition, 
"Fiat  justitia,  pereat  mundus."  Therefore,  the  Pacifists,  in 
their  struggle  to  avoid  war,  would  go  so  far  as  to  cause  a 
greater  evil.  This,  of  course,  would  be  illogical.  But  in  all 
striving  for  human  betterment,  logic  is  the  valve  which  pre- 
vents reason  from  becoming  nonsense,  benefit  from  becoming 
misery.  The  elimination  of  war  is  aimed  at  by  the  Pacifists 
only  to  secure  advantages  for  humanity.  This  regulates  the 
"price"  at  which  peace  shall  be  secured.  The  fact  that  we  ask 
for  peace  only  so  long  as  it  means  an  advantage  over  war  is 
the  valve  that  automatically  prevents  the  Pacifist  aims  from 
falling  into  the  extreme  which  their  opponents  attribute  to 
them  by  accusing  them  of  aiming  at  "peace  at  any  priced 

This  logic  has  but  to  be  comprehended.  The  adversaries  of 
Pacifism  who  cannot  or  zvill  not  understand  this  by  making 
such  reproaches  merely  seek  to  obtain  a  freehand  for  inciting 
war,  which  has  already  been  interfered  with  seriously  through 
the  Pacifist  propaganda.  They  only  want  to  nullify  the  forces 
of  reason  that  are  working  for  peace  by  discrediting  them. 
The  slogan  "peace  at  any  price"  has  no  other  meaning  than  to 
protect  those  who  are  making  war  from  interference,  and  to 
safeguard  the  interests  of  a  few  at  the  expense  of  the  welfare 
of  the  community. 


XI 

THE    ATTITUDE    OF    PACIFISM     TOWARD    WAR 

UNDER    THE     PRESENT     CONDITION     OF 

INTERNATIONAL    DISORGANIZATION 

The  peace  movement  works  against  war  because  war  is  still 
possible  and  constantly  impending.  This  is  the  justification  of 
its  existence.  The  movement  would  be  superfluous  if  a  condi- 
tion of  peace  zuere  assured. 

Curiously  this  simple  truth  is  misunderstood  by  the  public 
to  an  incredible  extent.  For  it  is  precisely  during  a  time 
of  international  disturbance  and  of  impending  armed  conflict 
that  the  peace  movement  is  called  untimely.     As  though  to 

i8 


\ 


li'ork  for  peace  ivere  justified  only  zvlicn  its  breaking  aph^cai 
impossible!  The  fact  that  a  crisis  exists  can  never  '.^lake  ^, 
pear  unnecessary  the  elTorts  to  prevent  it.  Hygienic  proi 
ganda  is  not  superfluous  because,  on  account  of  a  lack 
proper  sanitary  precautions,  pestilences  actually  do  arise.  The^ 
demand  for  impregnation  of  inflammable  material  ii  not  use- 
less because  fires  actually  do  break  out  because  no  such  pre- 
ventive nieasures  have  been  taken.  \^^ 

The  wrong  concention  as  to  the  position  of  Pacifism  toward  \ 
actual  war  may  be  clue  to  the  superstitious  belief  that  war  is    i 
a  natural   phenomena  beyond   human  control.     This   is   why      j 
Paciiists  aTe  usually   looked   upon   as  people  whose  attitude      / 
toward  this   alleged   inevitability  is   to  confine  themselves  to     ' 
"loving"  and  "praising"  peace,  as  one  prefers  a  smooth  sea 
to  a  rough  sea  or  fine  weather  to  cloudburst.     In  the  same 
way  one  confines  oneself  to  regarding  Pacifists  as  people  who 
prefer  the  good  and  the  beautiful  to  the  bad  and  ugly,  but 
whom  one  has  to  pity  when  events  occur  which  are  no  more 
"good"  and  "beautiful"  and  which  are  therefore  believed  to 
be  very  disappointing  to   them.      Such  must   have  been  the 
trend  of  thought  of  the  high  official  who,  during  the  Balkan 
crisis,  said  to  me,  "/  would  not  like  to  be  a  Pacifist  at  present," 
which  means,  of  course,  "I  only  want  to  be  a  friend  of  fine 
weather  when  the  sun  shines,  because  otherwise  in  storm  and 
rain  I  would  have  to  suffer  for  my  predelictions."    It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  show  how  distorted  this  view  is,  least  of  all  to 
those  who  have   read  the   foregoing  fundamental   argumen- 
tations. 

Then  there  are  those  who  make  Pacifists  responsible  when 
war  breaks  out.  They  cry  out  upon  us  emphatically  and 
accuse  us  of  hypocrisy  because  we  were  working  against  war 
only  in  time  of  so-called  peace,  when,  in  their  opinion,  it  is 
unnecessary  to  do  so.  They  do  not  know  that  one  cannot 
fight  actual  war,  that  one  must  change  the  causes  that  pro- 
voke it.  in  order  to  shun  the  outbreak  of  hell.  To  them  we 
say,  "JVe^nre  jiot_Jirenien  zvhom  one  calls  in  to  put  out  ajire. 
\J'c  are  but  flic  sup'p'ffc'Fslrr'a'nTcdiiTnrfor  fi re h roofing  which 
by  timely  af'/^'icaii";!  ^'ould  prevent  tJic  coiifiaorafion." 


19 


6' 


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